Everything Has Changed (a MakorraKorrasami fanfic)
by makorra4evsies
Summary: It's been 3 and a half weeks since Korra battled Zaheer, since she forgot who she was, since Mako last looked her in the eyes and three and a half weeks since EVERYTHING changed. Korra has never been the same. It's as if there's nothing worth living for anymore, nothing worth the fight. But after her first encounter with Mako in weeks, can love, friendship and self-worth save her?
1. Chapter 1 - Emptiness

"Korra?" The sound of footsteps grew louder as she approached the door. "Korra, are you alright?" her soft yet strong voice sounded worried. Shortly after, the door handle turned and the door slowly creaked open. A bright beam of light shone across the wooden floors of the room and onto the closed blinds of the small window. The sound of music and laughter flooded through, bringing with it unwanted memories of better times…happier times. Asami quietly stepped through the door then swiftly closed it, along with all the happiness and light that shone through. I remained in the bed on my side, as I continued to stare at the blank wall.

"Is there anything you would like? Pema's made some great water tribe food, you're favourite, and everyone's just dying to see you." She stepped in front of my face and kneeled down so she could see me clearly. I could see her examining me, trying to find some kind of improvement. Seems like she couldn't find any. Her beautiful light green eyes peered into my dull, blue, showing her concern for my well-being. So much had changed in just 3 weeks including one of my best friends. After that day and I completely shut down, she stepped up and cleaned me up, encouraging me to complete daily activities such as bathing and eating, watching my progress and pretty much doing anything she could to fix me up. Of course, nothing really worked, but if it wasn't for her I would've been in this room for the last 3 and a half weeks in bed, doing nothing but breathing and taking up space.

"Korra, honey." She whispered in a voice that sounded like she was talking to a cornered animal, "We all know what you've been through. We all understand and we don't expect you to do anything. You're acting exactly the way you're supposed to be after all that, and frankly no one's judging you for it. But I just want you to know, I'm here for you. Tenzin's here for you. Your parents are here for you. The airbenders, the kids, Kai, Opal, Su, Lin, Zuko, Bolin, Bolin's family…" she stopped and swallowed.

"….Mako, they're all here for you including me and we all want you to get better because no matter how we act…" Her words suddenly drifted off and I realised that she was talking about one certain person in particular. "We still love you, all of us." Her soft hands clasped mine like they always did when she gave me this talk, the talk about how much I was loved and no one was expecting me to bounce right back. But during the first week, I just didn't care anymore.

Every tie that was holding me to the ground snapped off and floated away and even the one thing I was sure of, the one thing I had always been certain of, being the Avatar. Even that soon floated away after Tenzin assured me that the airbenders would be taking over my responsibilities until I recover. Asami had reassured me enough to make me believe that he didn't mean it like that but it didn't stop it from causing the devastating amounts of pain and worthlessness I felt. I don't know what's wrong with me. No one needs the Avatar anymore. Why can't I just accept that and get on with my life? Ever since I came to Republic city, people have been telling me that I'm not needed anymore, from Amon, to Unalaq, to President Raiko, the people, Zaheer, the Earth Queen and the Red Lotus. The age of the Avatar is over, right? Ugh, why can't I just move on?! The familiar ache between my temples returned as it slowly crept across my head. I closed my eyes as my mind began to fog up and all my thoughts become hazy.

"Korra? Is the headache happening again? Do you want me to get Katara in here?" Asami asked frantically, panic at the edges of her voice.

"No…no. It's not that bad, just…just give me a minute." I managed to choke out. I sounded horrible. As if I was completely lifeless and dead on the inside, revealing what I was feeling. That's why I tried not to talk. I opened one eye to make sure she hadn't left and instead saw the conflicting emotion flash across those gorgeous eyes as she struggled to watch my pain. The pounding in my head started to dull before completely disappearing in a couple of seconds. I relaxed and opened both my eyes.

"Is it gone?" Asami placed the back of her hand softly on my forehead. I quickly nodded and turned my eyes to look back at the plain white wall.

"I'm so worried about you, Korra. You used to be so bubbly and full of life but now-"Her voice cracked, letting loose some of the emotions she was struggling to hide. "-You're so, dead. Sometimes I feel like you're not even really here, as if you're somewhere else and you've left behind your body or something. Some nights I even wake up to check on you because I'm so scared you'll be gone in the morning." Tears filled her eyes and at that moment nothing could stop me from feeling the unmistakable guilt I felt. I glanced up into her eyes again and instantly got glued to them. The sapphire was blurry from tears and the rims of her eyes were red but even then she was absolutely beautiful. When I first met her, I was too jealous to really notice her beauty but now I can't help but admire it. Back when I was happy, I used to just wonder how a girl could be so undeniably lovely on the inside and on the outside. So as her eyes continued to fill with tears that threatened to overflow, I couldn't help but feel a sudden desperation to do whatever would make her happy. That's why I decided to go out into the dining hall to meet the others. Asami was delighted that I agreed, it would be one of the first times I left the room apart from bathroom needs. I was hoping to just get it over and done with but Asami insisted that she do my hair before we leave. Since I was in a wheelchair, I didn't get much of a choice these days so after spending 15 minutes styling my hair and applying some weird lotions and beauty products on my face, she tightly grasped the handles of the wheelchair and wheeled me out.

_AUTHORS NOTE_

_*EDIT* Hey guys, oh my god I CAN'T BELIEVE that my fanfic has reached__ 355 views! That's crazy! Thankyou so much to everyone who is currently reading this __. It's my first ever time writing a fan fiction so it's great to receive such a positive response to 'Everything Has Changed.' Don't worry, there WILL be new chapters, I just finished writing Chapter 2. Well, thanks again for all the support, more chapters are on the way and hopefully I'll be able to publish a new one every week. __ Keep on reading fanfics as we all wait for the last ever book of LOK to come out on October 3__rd__!_


	2. Chapter 2 - Re-unions

As we approached the room, the sound of music and laughter got stronger to a state where it was almost overwhelming, reminding me of better times. But things have changed since then. Everything has changed. My heart clenched as I felt the sudden urge to cry. No…..no. Korra, stay strong just for now. For Asami and for your friends and family…don't you dare cry now…not now. The door was wide open and after taking a brief deep breath, Asami wheeled me into the full light of the open door. At first, I scrunched my face as I waited for my eyes to adjust. But that's when I noticed all the eyes fixed on me, surprised expressions on their faces. The laughter and music had stopped and it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I didn't even have the energy to feel self-conscious, and I started to examine the faces surrounding me. Dad, mum, Tenzin, Pema, Jinora, Kai, little Rohan, Su Opal, Lin, Zuko, Bolin…..Mako.

My eyes unexpectedly lingered on his face both surprising me and him. He seemed to be a little shocked and….guilty as he drank me in. His soft, amber eyes blazed into mine as a million emotions flickered across them. His gaze was so deep and it spoke so many unspoken words between us, so many words neither of us had said to each other in so long, so very long. What surprised me even further was when my heart started skipping beats as if it couldn't work properly as his gaze continued to burn into me. Suddenly I was taken back, back to when everything was well between us, back when we both loved each other inevitably and we weren't afraid to show it. Back when I would find comfort in those strong, warm arms and passion in his soft, eager lips. When I would jump into his arms and as he spun me around, we both knew exactly who we were and that there would be no place either of us would rather be. My heart ached as I longed for things to be back to the way they were, back to when I could go to him for his endless love and support. Mako had ignored me ever since I defeated Zaheer, he had made it his goal in life to keep as far away from me as possible. When I entered the room, he would always make an excuse to leave or he would go the far side of the room and look everywhere else but at me. So it was surprising to find that even after all this, my feelings for him hadn't changed. Hope began to swell inside me, the first feeling I had felt in weeks as the fact that he may still love me began to seem more believable now. But just as my hopes rose, he clicked out of whatever trance he was in, then tore his eyes away from my gaze and stared at the ground. My heart felt as though it would crash to the ground as my overwhelming feelings for him were rejected once again. Why am I like this? Just get over him. He IS NOT IN LOVE WITH YOU! His words echoed in my head, "I'll always love you, Korra." Did he even mean that? Any of that? An ache started to form in my forehead again. Okay, just don't over think this. Actually, don't think about anything at all, like you've been doing for the last few weeks. After taking a deep breath, I looked up again with a dead empty expression.

"Korra!" Bolin screamed in joy and ran over to hug me. His arms felt alien, but were warm and inviting as they always were. Well, he hasn't changed. After a couple more seconds of his hug, he stepped back a little so he could see my face. "Hey, you're looking WAY better, Korra! Almost back to normal, wow those shadows under your eyes have almost completely disappeared and that dead, lifeless look you had is also starting to go and-" Tenzin stepped forward and placed his hand on Bolin's shoulder, effectively cutting him off. "We're just thrilled to see you, Korra. Bolin's right, you look much better, better every day." He smiled warmly, reflecting his gratitude for the huge 'sacrifice' I had made. I never doubted my decision, even now, I still don't regret it at all. The Avatar's duty is to ensure balance and peace throughout all the nations and if the air nation was wiped out, there would be no balance. It seems that after I was put into a wheelchair, everyone seemed to like me better and started actually feeling gratitude towards me. "Sweety, it's so great to see you out and about!" Mum ran towards me and tossed her arms around me, holding me like I would disappear if she let me go. I leaned my head towards her hug and closed my eyes. My parents haven't changed at all. They continued to shower love on me and at the moment, they're one of the only things I'm certain about. Mum continued to hold onto me so I slowly opened my eyes and looked around the room awkwardly. Dad caught my stare and soon after he joined in on the hug, enveloping me in his evident love and pride for me. Meelo ran up and placed his skinny little arms around the wheel of my wheelchair and before I knew it, Jinora, Ikki, Kai, Opal and Bolin had also joined in. Realising what they were doing, everyone else in the room followed after, hugging whatever they could: the wheels, handles, armrests and if they could….me. I smiled, the first time in weeks; as I felt all these people's arms around me, showing me that they care. As my thoughts started to drift off, I suddenly started desperately searching the crowd of arms for him.

He was nowhere to be seen, which didn't surprise me, but what did shock me was when I saw him having a hushed, tense conversation with Asami at the far corner of the room. Asami looked annoyed and frustrated, flicking her long, thick, pitch black locks the way she does when she's angry. Mako had a flustered, confused and slightly guilty expression…where was the guilt from? As I continued to watch, the arms around me loosened and before I knew it, everyone had gone back to partying and having a good time. The music was pounding from the speakers while everyone was chatting and laughing joyfully. But my eyes were glued to them, still at the corner of the room and when both their eyes found their way to me, I realised what they were talking about. Mako realised I was watching them and walked out of the room quickly without saying anything. Asami stepped forward to follow after but froze, looked around and instead came over towards me. Her cheeks were a pale crimson colour, still angry and her thin eyebrows were dipped into a deep frown. "Korra, we need to talk. NOW." Without any other explanation, she grabbed the handles of the wheelchair tightly and pushed me out the door, forcefully.

_**AUTHORS NOTE**_

_**Hey guys, 405 views! I honestly cant believe this. I'm just shocked that all these people want to read a fanfiction I've meaning to write ever since the finale aired. Don't worry I'll be publishing another chapter in a couple of days so just hang on there! Thanks again oh and just to update what I said in Chapter 1, I'm going to post a new chapter every couple of days (2-3 days max.) **_


	3. Chapter 3 - Doubts

Several corridors zoomed past us as I noticed how fast we were going. Whoa, Asami's in a bad mood. We turned and headed outside into the full force of the cold, windy, dark night. The stars were sprinkled across the black sky, like small diamonds across a long, endless piece of navy velvet. In the centre shone the moon, radiating its light across the night sky with heart-rending beauty reminding me of an elegant swan. She continued to push me until we reached the bottom of Air Temple Island and the sea was lapping at our feet. After releasing her grip on the handles, she trudged past me and peered at the bright, blinking lights of the city. "A year ago, the reason I joined Team Avatar was because of him." Her soft, distant voice startled me. Him? As in Mako? She turned and looked at me straight in the eyes. "Yes, him….Mako." she whispered, answering my question. "You see, back then, I - uh, I was in love. Completely in love. There was no doubt in my mind that Mako was the man of my dreams and in my head he was everything I wanted him to be. He was my prince and I was his princess and he was here to whisk me away to my happily ever after. He was perfect. There wasn't a single thing I wouldn't do to make him happy." She spun around and glanced at me, an embarrassed look on her flawless features. A light, dusty-rose coloured blush had crept over her cheeks, lighting up her face like the Fourth of July. It was adorable. I smiled encouragingly, prompting her to continue. Her small red lips briefly parted as she breathed out a long sigh.

Her gaze fell to her feet as the tips of her eyelashes rested against her cheeks. "He showered me with love and attention and for a girl who grew up without a mother, without spending time with her father and as an only child, it meant so much more. At the time, I remember thinking that he was filling up my holes, every single gap that had been left behind from my insecurities and troubles. I was in pure bliss." A tear slid down her cheek and onto the front of her dress. "But then cracks started showing. We weren't spending as much time as we used to with each other and every day he left me with false hopes and promises. Every time he forgot a date or a special occasion or ANYTHING, he would always call me afterwards and tell me his excuse. I didn't me upset me at first, I mean, he was a busy guy and he had a life he needed to get on with. But then I started noticing a pattern in his excuses. It was either, 'I really wanted to come Asami, but Korra needed help with training and she just joined the team a couple of weeks ago' or 'So sorry, I just completely lost track of time, we were starving so Korra and I had lunch' or even 'It was pretty dark after the game so I walked Korra to the water, you know, just in case.'" Asami's eyes were cloudy and distant as she spoke.

"It was all centred around you. I had heard about you, he had told me of the new Avatar, a brunette from the Southern Water Tribe, with dark mocha coloured skin and bright, azure, doe-eyes that weren't just one shade, but different shades all mixed together. I realised that his description of you was very detailed, as if he had spent a lot of time staring and observing. I began to pay attention to what he would say and soon enough I discovered, that his main topic was YOU. It was always 'Korra did this...' and "Korra did that...' and 'Isn't Korra just amazing?'. All he talked about was you. Then I started noticing other things too, like the way his arms wrapped around me but felt insincere, the way his eyes looked at me but he was thinking about something else and how he quietly leaned away from my kisses. Everything felt wrong. Wasn't he my prince, hadn't I seen my happily after in my head? But that was just it, it was all in my head. Nothing he did actually confirmed that. He didn't even seem the slightest bit interested in me anymore." A sigh escaped her lips and when I looked at her face, her eyes were puffy and red from silent tears that I hadn't heard. She was hurting. It killed me to see her like this. "Asami…." I muttered while trying to reach out to her. Damn these stupid, weak arms. "No, I'm fine, just let me finish."

"I joined Team Avatar hoping that it would bring us together again, back to one another like how we used to be. A small part of me also wanted to see you in action and to keep an eye on Mako. Well, I ended up watching the so called love-of-my-life fall in love with you, Korra, the loud, headstrong, loving, beautiful, Avatar. I was so angry. At first all I saw was betrayal and all I felt was jealousy. Even after we broke-up, became just friends and you and I were on a truce, the jealousy was still there. It hurt to see him so happy with you, you seemed to bring out a side of him I hadn't realised existed. Even when you fought, there was something about it, something that just clicked as if it were meant to be. I know even after that, I made more mistakes, but eventually after we FINALLY ended things for good again, I realised why it never felt right. He was in love with you. ONLY you. He still loved me too but only as a friend would love another friend. The love he had for you was much deeper than the love he had ever had for me. You were his future. Trust me, I know you both very well and you're not perfect. Together you have your imperfections and mistakes but even with all that baggage you were still meant to be. I finally accepted that I would never have a place in his heart as his lover." The final words tumbled out of her mouth as if she had been keeping them locked up for far too long. A small smile tugged at her lips and she seemed relaxed and at ease. Asami had just told me so much but it wasn't true, right? He may have loved me then, but he doesn't love me now, I'm certain of that.

I swallowed and cleared my throat. "But you guys….you were just arguing in there. I saw you." I questioned. Her eyes flashed open and her eyebrows shot upwards before dipping down. "That had NOTHING to do with US." She fumed, "I was just angry at the way he's been treating you lately." What? What did she mean? Was she talking about how he was ignoring me? Well, I'm too much of a creep for him to be around now. His feelings changed. A stinging pain crept across my heart and tears welled up in my eyes. "Korra, he still loves you. I know it. He just….he just won't talk about it. The whole point of me telling you that entire story was to prove that he loves you. He does. You have to go and talk to him. Now." She said strongly, without a hint of doubt in her voice. TALK to HIM? Is she crazy? Here I am, in a wheelchair barely able to move and she wants me to talk to Mako? "No, Asami, no. He wouldn't want to talk with me anyway, he's been ignoring me for the last couple of weeks and I understand that. Life goes on." Several minutes passed as she glared at me, her stare burning into mine. It was the first sign of anger she had shown to me since that day. The sound of rustling feet sliding towards us broke our gaze and we both turned together.

"Asami? Bo told me that you wanted to tell me something and I'm pretty sure you've calmed dow-" His beautiful face froze in horror and shock as his eyes swept over Asami and then me. So many emotions and memories seemed to flicker over them as he tried to figure out a way out of this situation. My head turned as I looked at Asami. A large triumphant smile had stretched across her face for about two seconds before vanishing. She set us up. She set me up. I shot her a look of anger and gratitude because to be honest, I had been wanting to talk to Mako for weeks…..I'm just not ready. After clearing her throat, Asami looked at Mako and gave him an apologetic shrug. Then she walked up the small trail back to the comfort of her room. Mako hadn't moved. His eyes were still glued to my face and after a while I could feel a blush lighting up my face. Damn you, Mako.

**AUTHORS NOTE**

Hey guys sorry for the delay with Chapter 3…..I've been really busy lately with school but the school holidays have started so its all good thanks again for all the crazy support I've been receiving and if any of you wanna check out my profile, I've got my tumblr url on there! F4F Love you all xox

-Bianca


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